by Kylie Brant
“I understand.” De la Reyes was charming, if firm. “But your surprise entrance tonight caused a great deal of trouble for many people. I am happy to see you, of course. But I must ask that you give me the remote so we can be certain of our security.”
“It is with my regular driver who brought me here,” she said in a small voice. “You may retrieve it from him.”
With a look, Cael directed Sibbits to do so. The operative crossed to the door and slipped through it.
“I will send my men to get your bags. Please wait for me upstairs.”
Fuente nodded submissively at de la Reyes’s suggestion, but Cael had the distinct impression that the fiery beauty would not stay subdued for long. She surprised him, however, when she stopped on the way out the door in front of Ava.
“I wish to apologize.”
From Ava’s expression, she appeared as shocked as the rest of the occupants in the room.
“I thought only of myself, my own outrage. But you saved my Tonio’s life, and for that I owe you a debt of gratitude I can never repay.”
Cael watched Ava accept the woman’s hand. Before she continued to the door, Marissa gave her an arch look. “But as his novia I must suggest that perhaps you put on more clothes for this job, si? Perhaps a uniform—” she made a graceful gesture indicating throat to ankle “—that covers up far more. A jealous woman can be very dangerous.”
Ava touched her throat. “I’ll remember that.”
After one long smoldering look toward de la Reyes, Marissa glided out the door. And when it closed behind her, de la Reyes let out a sigh. Reaching for the glass of wine she’d left behind, he took a sip, holding up a hand to Cael. “I know what you are thinking.”
“You left some pretty major parts out of your story when we were planning your security,” he said shortly. Diplomacy be damned. The man’s lack of candor could have turned into a real security nightmare. “You certainly never mentioned Ms. Fuente.”
“Because she was not part of the immediate picture here.” The man’s tone held an imperious edge. “I could not forsee she would be back so soon or I would have warned her to stay away, as I did with my family. And I assure you, I had no idea she had a remote to the gate.”
Another thing Gonzalez had to answer for. Cael sent Reynolds a meaningful look and the man inclined his head. The man’s quarters would be searched again. They’d thought the remotes were all accounted for. Which meant someone had had another copy made, the one that had ended up in Marissa Fuente’s hands.
“What else do you need from me tonight?” the president asked him. And Cael knew he wasn’t imagining the exhaustion in the man’s expression. He kept a grueling schedule and tonight’s events would have disturbed the first full night’s rest he’d attempted since his return.
“I’ll finish briefing the guards. What do you want done with Ms. Fuente’s limo driver?”
De la Reyes was already moving toward the door. “His background was thoroughly checked when we arranged for him to drive Marissa. He may stay until she leaves.”
Cael felt a clutch of impatience as the man left the room. If nothing else, the woman’s presence here was bound to be a nuisance. So far the president had willingly curtailed his outside activities to make it easier to check his security. Based on the taste they’d gotten of Fuente tonight, something told Cael she wasn’t going to be content to hang around the palace day in and day out without entertainment.
He’d need to make de la Reyes see that the woman’s presence here was an unnecessary risk, a distraction they couldn’t afford. But until then, he had to lock down the security and debrief the unit that had, for the most part, done a decent job of protection this evening.
“Benton, you’re back on shift outside de la Reyes’s quarters. Everyone else, with me for the debriefing session with the National Guardsmen.”
It promised to be a very long night.
CHAPTER 7
Ava’s long strides ate up the hallway. It was all Cael could do to keep up with her. “I don’t know why you’re embarrassed. Those security tapes revealed that you and Reynolds showed exemplary decision making out there tonight.”
“Embarrassed?” She whirled with a suddenness that took him by surprise. When she approached on him, her finger stabbed him in the chest. “You’re damn straight I have nothing to be embarrassed about. What I am is pissed. I did my job like the professional I am. I didn’t appreciate having my appearance on that tape treated like fodder for a bachelor party.”
“What?” Stunned at her temper, he could only stare at her. But a sneaky sliver of guilt stabbed at him. Because yeah, the image of Ava’s long legs racing across the expanse of lawn, the armored vest hiding most of her clothing beneath was…unforgettable. And the sight of her, bare limbs gleaming in the moonlight, dark hair mussed, wielding the assault rifle with a deadly certainty, was going to be the subject of some sweat-drenched dreams for some time to come.
But damned if he was going to admit that to her. “Everybody in that room is a professional. I can assure you, our only thought was to review our security procedure from the time the gate was breached.”
She stared at him, fire lighting her eyes and shooting color to her cheeks. “If you didn’t notice the reaction of the guardsmen in there for the briefing, you’re dangerously unobservant. I spent all day today dealing with their response to me because I’m a woman. And finally, finally at the end of the day I earned a bit of respect. Now…” She made a rude sound. “I’m going to have to start all over again tomorrow and I’m giving you fair warning, the next one of them that touches me will be nursing broken bones.”
“One of them touched you? Why didn’t you report that? I’ll make sure—”
“I don’t need your help,” she said, punctuating each word with a finger jab to his chest. To avoid injury, he reached up to capture her hand in one of his. “I need respect. I want that tape confiscated before every guardsman in the unit has a copy.”
“I’ll take care of it.” He didn’t particularly like the idea of that himself, although his mind shied away from examining the reason too closely.
She stared at him suspiciously, but something in his expression must have convinced her, because the tension in her muscles eased infinitismally. “Men are stupid.”
He caught up with her as she turned and started walking rapidly down the hallway again toward her room. “Well…yeah.”
An unwilling smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Present company not excluded.”
Given that his reaction to the tape had been exactly as she’d described, that was hard to argue with, as well. “Conceded.”
“Don’t be so agreeable, McCabe. It’s creepy.”
He grinned, punchy with a combination of sleep deprivation and adrenaline crash. “What can I say? We’re a primitive lot, conditioned to respond to certain, ah…shall I say stimuli?”
“I’ll agree with the primitive part.” Reaching her door, she seemed to remember something. “I should give you this.” She shifted her weapon to her other arm, fighting to loosen her wrist communicator. “It vibrated and the alarm worked, but I wasn’t able to use the radio.”
Frowning, he took the device from her. “You couldn’t hear the orders?”
“No. I wasn’t sure why the limo had been allowed through without halting it, but I met up with Reynolds and he passed along the orders.”
“The guards on outer perimeter made a tactical error assuming the limo held Fuente.” The security breach still burned. “The vehicle should have been stopped far earlier. Those responsible will be released from duty. All in all, though, most of them did their job. The silver lining is, at least now we know where our weakness is and can regroup.” He reached by her to push open the door she’d unlocked. “Mind if I check the base?”
Without waiting for permission, he strode across the room, his gaze unerringly going to the bedside table, which held the communicator radio base that regulated the channels on the unit.
Propping her rifle against the wall, he knelt beside the base and began fiddling with the knobs. Moments later, he hissed out a breath in disgust.
“Damn thing isn’t on the wrong channel, it isn’t working at all.”
“I believe I mentioned that.”
Her tone was dry. And very close. Glancing up, he saw she’d come to stand next to him after shedding the armored tac vest. “Yeah, but they should have been checked and in working order prior to our dispersing them.” He unplugged the base unit and placed the wrist communicator on top of it before rising. “I’ll take this back to my room and switch it with another. Maybe it has a short in it.”
His position when he stood placed him very close to her. Too close. She was caught between him and that wide expanse of bed, the mussed turquoise covers looking like ripples in tropical lagoon. And his pulse, as if on cue, began to drum. His thoughts to fragment.
After the last time he’d been in this room, it was all too easy to imagine lying on that bed with her beside him. Beneath him. He could still recall the feel of her, supple muscle and soft curves. Could still taste her, that unique flavor that fired his blood and wiped his mind clean of instinct and suspicion, leaving only passion in its place.
As if recognizing his thoughts, she took a step back. Was brought up short by the bed pressing behind her knees. “No.” Her voice was firm. But in her expression he saw a reflection of the desire he was trying desperately to stem in himself. “We aren’t going to make the same mistake twice.”
“That’s good to hear.” His mind splintered into two dueling parts, logic and temptation, the latter fueled by a horned, sharp-tailed demon spurring him on to insanity. His hand reached out, as if devoid of conscious decision, and cupped her jaw.
Her hand came up as if to push it away. Lingered to stroke. “You don’t trust me.”
The skin beneath her ear was baby soft. When he brushed his fingertips over it she shuddered. “I can’t.”
“So why should I trust you?”
He replaced his hand with his lips, tracing that delicate jawline with a string of whisper soft kisses. “You shouldn’t.”
Her response was muffled by his mouth over hers. And the jolt at her taste was enough to ignite his system.
He ate at her hungrily, anxious to get his fill before one of them, both of them came to their senses. This wasn’t smart. She was right about that. And he, who was used to quantifying every risk, assessing every danger, was deviating from hard-learned experience by ignoring that fact.
His arm snaked around her waist and he drew her closer. He’d taken plenty of chances in his lifetime, after he was assured he controlled the situation. But he wasn’t so sure he could control his reaction to her.
Ava wound her arms around his neck and kissed him back with a reckless fervor that had his heart beating a heavy tattoo in his chest. And when her tongue swept into his mouth, bold and demanding, hunger lunged inside him.
Cael hooked a finger in one strap and dragged it over her shoulder until her breast was freed from the fabric, then cupped it in his hand. The nipple was taut, a testament to her desire, and he teased it with his fingers even as his free hand swept inside the elastic of her shorts to cup her butt.
The tantalizing twin pleasure of bare flesh had flames licking through his veins. She was sleek softness with the whisper of muscle beneath. And his mouth went to her breast in a primal quest for flesh.
The taste of her rollicked through his system. With a few swift moves he could have her naked, and under him, this time free to taste and stroke and touch freely. He was a man who assessed danger for a living, and he faced it now, of a sort that was more lethal than usual. This woman made him forget his convictions. To set aside the cool calculation that had been instrumental to his survival. She represented a danger of a different sort.
And was all the more tempting for it.
He became aware of her fingers between their bodies, trying to undo the straps securing the vest he still wore. Rather than moving to help her, he squeezed the fullness of her bottom, his fingers grazing the cleft. He sucked from her nipple urgently, dimly aware that he was approaching the point of no return. Ready, damn ready, to dive over the edge and think about the consequences later.
She was only a few inches shorter than him, and he could still intimately recall from the time he’d spent on top of her how well they’d fit, every inch, every angle and hollow. Skin heating against skin.
The alarm shrilling in his mind barely registered. But her stillness did. With savage reluctance he raised his head and only then did he become aware that the sound was all too real. But rather than a mental alarm, it was a cell phone.
Hers.
Blinking to regain focus, he saw the cell on her bedside table. The international one he’d provided her with, along with every other member of the team, when she’d gotten on the plane. The screen was lit up now, as it gave one last burst of sound before falling silent.
It took another moment for understanding to filter through the fog of passion. He recognized the number showing on the screen before it went dark. Had seen it on his own cell screen a few times.
He released her with a suddenness that sent a chorus of protests from parts of his body that shouldn’t get a vote. And comprehension rushed in, nearly rocking him off his feet with the enormousness of his miscalculation.
Ava still looked dazed. And when she reached for him again, God help him, it was all he could do to take a step back and scramble for the logic that had deserted him like a paratrooper from a flaming chopper.
“Better call him back,” he said tersely.
His words must have registered, even if his tone didn’t. She picked up the phone, fumbling with it as if she wasn’t in total control of her muscles yet, and the evidence of her response nearly had him throwing back his head and howling his frustration.
Tension, of a far different sort than that of a few moments ago, shot his muscles with steel.
“I don’t recognize—”
“I do.” His jaw was clenched so tightly it ached. “It’s Samuelson’s.”
She dropped the phone then with a clatter, but he knew he wasn’t imagining the guilt flickering over her expression. “So does he have you reporting in on a regular schedule? If you missed a time, I wouldn’t keep him waiting. He isn’t known for his patience.”
Ava straightened her clothing, then took several strides away from the bed. And farther from him. “I left him a message with my number when I got here. I haven’t spoken to him since.”
Cael didn’t bother to sift through her words for truth and fabrication. His stupidity drumrolled in his head, hammered home just how colossal an error he’d almost made.
The irony was she’d warned him of just that before he’d reached for her.
The fury pumped through him in waves. He knew from experience what happened when you wanted something, someone too much. That depth of feeling inevitably blinded him to the truth, made him reach decisions based on emotion rather than logic.
It had him risking more than he should. And later, when reality slashed through longing, it made the crash brutally resounding.
“Maybe it’s best you wait to call him later,” he agreed. “I haven’t ironed out all the details, but you can start feeding them to Samuelson each time you report in.”
He noticed the rise of her chest. The effort it took for her to compose her features and face him with a dispassion to match his own. “I already told you I won’t be part of that.”
“I think you will.” He cocked a derisive brow, saw her flush with the first tinge of annoyance. “My information broker is at least as thorough as the government databases.”
She went still then, and the color that had so quickly flared to her cheeks leeched just as swiftly.
“It’s always a crapshoot to figure the lengths people will go to hide something from their past, but I’m figuring you’d go pretty far to make sure no one knows Calvin Julson is your father.”
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br /> If he hadn’t reined his conscience in with a vicious grip, her expression might have caused him to soften. To take a step toward her and stroke away the flash of pain on her face.
But the last few minutes had taught him the danger of softening toward her. Of ignoring reality in favor of dreams.
She walked a few feet to grasp one of the four posters to the bed frame, as if in need of its support. Her tension was evident in her deathly pale face, in the white-knuckle grip she had on the frame.
“I figure Samuelson discovered that, too, and used it to force you to accept this assignment.” He was willing to grant her that much. Ava would have needed powerful incentive to change her mind to join his team temporarily. The money might have been part. But not all.
She remained motionless. “He intimated. I thought he must know. But he didn’t come out and say it.”
Of course the man wouldn’t. Cael reeled in his temper, forced himself to think clearly. The agent would reveal only enough to get what he wanted. He was a master at playing people, using their vulnerabilities against them in a manner guaranteed to have them falling in line with whatever he asked of them.
Cael had been suckered himself, once upon a time.
Steeling himself against the sight of her, shocked and dismayed, he said, “Well, I don’t blame you for not wanting anyone to know of your relationship to Julson.” And watched her, hawklike, for her reaction.
She swallowed. Seemed to search for words. “I haven’t spoken to my father in over fifteen years. He isn’t part of my life. And I can hardly be held accountable for genetics, can I? It’s not like I had a choice in my parentage.”
Her last statement struck a chord, but he refused to let it alter him from his course. “Good line. I wonder how your SWAT commander would feel about it. Or your captain. I think we both know what the press would do if they were fed the information. Local legendary SWAT sniper and detective affiliated with the most infamous white supremacist in the country? Every arrest you’ve ever made will be suspect. Every target you’ve ever taken out will have family pouring out of the woodwork. The city will be buried in discrimination lawsuits for decades.”